Monthly Archives: January 2015

An era has ended at King Kekaulike High School. After 20 years of serving as principal, Susan Scofield retired on December 30, capping off an accomplished career of nearly 44 years in education.

She played a vital role in shaping the heart and soul of Kekaulike, and it began even before any buildings on the campus were ever completed.

King Kekaulike saw its start with just Scofield in an office at Kalama Intermediate where she met her first class of freshman when they were still eighth graders.

“The first graduating class was unique. They were always the oldest in the school,” she said. They had to start traditions and create a sense of place, and how to properly act and behave without anyone before them to follow.

Creating a new high school takes time, and Scofield was it in for the long haul.

She put in the energy and time, many times being the first one to school and the last one to leave.

As a result, Kekaulike slowly began to gain a strong footing, shaping itself into a unique place and establishing its own traditions, from homecoming activities to senior projects. Scofield even can be credited with the founding of this alumni association.

In 2013, under her leadership, Kekaulike was named one of 11 “Best High Schools in Hawaii,” by the U.S. News & World Report and one of 10 Hawaii schools in the Washington Post’s annual index of “America’s Most Challenging High Schools”.

As she ends her tenure at Kekaulike, there is a sense of excitement for her next chapter in life.

Susan Scofield and Clarence Rivers at a retirement assembly. December 2014.

“There comes a time when you begin to realize that you are getting old and gotta do things,” she said.

Travel is at the top of her mind, especially without having to think about work.

Her mother turns 90 and she wants to spend quality time with her, taking her more often to the ninth-island, Las Vegas, to meet up with family.

“I want to become more healthy and eat better”, she said, describing herself as having “one of the worst eating habits.”

Most importantly, she wants to spend time to really clean her house, after years of putting it on the backburner.

When asked what she won’t miss, she quickly responded, “getting 2 a.m. calls from the police and having to hurry to campus because of alarms going off or some type of vandalism.”

However, even as she leaves the school, its future is still top of mind.

“I look forward to the new auditorium being constructed.” It will be another source of pride for the school and has been a long time in the planning phase.

The master plan called for the auditorium to be located in the quad near the cafeteria, but was relocated to its current location near the locker rooms when it was decided that a pool, as originally planned, would unlikely be built.

“I was worried about having a pool on campus, but now we will have an auditorium that will be easily accessible to the public,” she said.

With a whole new chapter of life in front of her, she now has visions of eating french fries and champaign in retirement. “Champaign is always the best,” she exclaims with her classic smile and laugh.

Mrs. Scofield will be truly missed and we will be forever grateful for all of her tremendous contributions.